Vegetarian DHA:

Can Plants Give Us What We
Need?

Vegetarian
DHA
and
Vegan DHA (docosahexainoic acid) has become something of an
bone of contention, quite unnecessarily.

I frequently get emails from people telling me their doctors are
insisting they must eat fish to get enough DHA, a long-chain omega-3
fat with anti-inflammatory properties that plays an important role in
brain and eye function. Low DHA levels have been associated with mental
decline and other problems, so it's a serious issue.

DHA levels among vegetarians and vegans are consistently lower than
among fish eaters, leading many to conclude that a plant-based diet
does not provide sufficient quantities of DHA, and is thus endangering
them.

Vegetarian DHA: Not What it Seems To Be

Vegetarian DHA is actually
not the issue at all because DHA is not an essential fatty acid.

The only two essential fatty acids the body cannot do without are the
the omega-3, alpha linolenic acid (ALA) and the omega-6, linoleic acid
(LA). The body is fully equipped to manufacture as much DHA as it needs
using ALA.

So where
do Omega-3 and 6 come from? The only life forms that can
create these two fats are plants. All animals (including humans and
fish) are unable to make the fats themselves and must eat plant foods
to get enough, although excess fatty acids can be stored in the body,
and a
predator can obtain them by eating another animal.

When animals have enough omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, they convert them
into the derivatives need for the proper function of the body,
including EPA and DHA.

Humans have no difficulty in converting ALA into DHA in the liver, thus
supply our needs (1).

Vegetarian DHA: So Why Do Omnivores Have More?

Although vegetarians and vegans test lower in DHA, nutritional
researchers have
concluded that it's not an issue.

Researcher Thomas Sanders, author of the "DHA status of vegetarians,"
which appeared in the August-September 2009 issue of the journal of Prostaglandins
Leukotrienes
and
Essential Fatty Acids, wrote that "…the
relatively lower intake of linoleic acid and the presence of preformed
DHA (fish) in the diet of omnivores explain the relatively higher
proportion of DHA in blood and tissue lipids compared with vegetarians.
In the absence of convincing evidence for the deleterious effects
resulting from the lack of DHA from the diet of vegetarians, it must be
concluded that needs for omega-3 fatty acids can be met by dietary ALA
(alpha linolenic acid).” (2).

Because ALA is derived from plant sources, there's nothing to worry
about as long as you're eating enough fruits and vegetables.

One study looking at women on Vegan Diets showed they have more
long-chain Omega-3s, compared with fish eaters, meat eaters, and
ovo-lacto vegetarains. Vegan men did not have quite the as high of
levels as the women (3).